‘What’s missing in Atlantic City is the spirit of community,’
Mark Giannantonio, president and CEO of Resorts Casino Hotel, said
Wednesday during a Greater Atlantic City Chamber panel at the
Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel.

ATLANTIC CITY — Touting investments at casinos and throughout the city, a panel of gambling executives said Wednesday the city’s future is promising.

But to achieve that promise, the resort’s leaders have to work together to take advantage of opportunities, such as sports betting and increased development, to make the resort a true destination, said Mark Giannantonio, president and CEO of Resorts Casino Hotel, during the event hosted by the Greater Atlantic City Chamber.

“What’s missing in Atlantic City is the spirit of community,” Giannantonio said as he held a copy of The Press of Atlantic City from Memorial Day weekend 1967, which showed a thriving Boardwalk. “Back then, there were so many stakeholders involved. It’s been a missing component for the last 20-25 years.”

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday suggested it may side with New Jersey in its effort to legalize sports gambling in a case that could make betting on football, basketball and other sports widely available.

The event at the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel featured Giannantonio; Marcus Glover, president and chief operating officer of Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa; Matthew Harkness, president of Hard Rock Atlantic City; and Tony Rodio, president and CEO of Tropicana Entertainment Inc.

“When you have competitive entities — and the casinos are competitive entities — talking about and encouraging a spirit of cooperation, I think that it’s really important that leadership have identified that as an issue,” said Joe Kelly, president of the chamber.

Harkness, an Atlantic City casino veteran, told the audience he was happy to be back in the area. The city, he said, has a bright future, although sometimes it tends to downplay its accomplishments.

“What I have seen is that this market is still robust,” he said.

Glover, who joined Borgata three months ago, said making better use of Atlantic City International Airport is an essential part of improving the local economy. He agreed the city’s economy is robust but said the city still suffers from negative perceptions outside New Jersey.

ATLANTIC CITY — When Gov. Chris Christie signed internet gaming legislation into law in February 2013, it was touted as another option that would make the resort’s gaming market more competitive.

Giannantonio said the future looks bright on the north end of the Boardwalk. Over the next year, several key projects are expected to open in that area, including Hard Rock, the Observation Wheel at Steel Pier and The Beach at South Inlet, a residential project on a grassy 4-acre lot bound by Atlantic, Pacific, New Jersey and Connecticut avenues.

“Things are really pointing up,” Giannantonio said. “We want to welcome everyone back to the neighborhood. We are really excited about Hard Rock joining and opening. We think that Hard Rock and the brand is going to be a dramatic uplift for Atlantic City and certainly for the north side of city.”

South Jersey is in line to get a few tenths of an inch of snow along the shore Friday into Saturday.

That’s not much to worry about, but for the organizers of the Ventnor Holiday Parade and Atlantic City Block Party, the safety of the participants and audience is always on their minds.

“The police and safety officers will work the event to help the public. However, good common sense is always key,” said Joe Kelly, president of the Greater Atlantic City Chamber.

Two different systems will bring the potential for snow this weekend.

The first is a low-pressure system that will ride up the eastern seaboard between late Friday and Saturday morning. This has the potential to be a bigger storm. However, it is likely to bring, at most, an inch or two of snow, not sticking to roads much.

The Ocean City Free Public Library and Community Center hosts its annual Holiday Festival with balloon sculptors, stilt walkers, temporary tat…

Cape_may

Cape veterans recall Pearl Harbor, World War II

jtomczuk-pressofac
/ JACK TOMCZUK
Staff Writer

12.07.17

Dale Gerhard / Staff Photographer

World War II Navy veterans Joe Kasmark, left, 92, of North
Wildwood, and John Sherman, 89, of Cape May Court House, meet for
the first time Tuesday at Glick’s Corner Cafe in Burleigh, Middle
Township.

Dale Gerhard / Staff Photographer

WWII veteran John Sherman of Cape May Court House, holds a photo
of himself taken when he enlisted in the US Navy at the age of 17.
WWII navy veterans Joe Kasmark 92, of North Wildwood, and John
Sherman, 89, of Cape May Court House, met for the first
time,Tuesday Dec. 5, 2017, during a meeting at Glick's Cafe in
Burleigh, Middle Towship. Kathy Tweed, a representative from South
Jersey Quilts of Valor, was there to present the vets with Quilts
of Valor made especially for them by east coast members of the
quilters group. Kasmark and Sherman both served abort ships in the
South Pacific during the occupation of Okinawa. (Dale Gerhard /
Press of Atlantic City)

Dale Gerhard / Staff Photographer

Sherman, left, and a shipmate in a photo taken when Sherman
enlisted in the Navy at 17.

Dale Gerhard / Staff Photographer

Debbie Robson of Cape May Court House, gives her father a kiss
after he received a Quilt of Valor for his service during WWII.
WWII navy veterans Joe Kasmark 92, of North Wildwood, and John
Sherman, 89, of Cape May Court House, met for the first
time,Tuesday Dec. 5, 2017, during a meeting at Glick's Cafe in
Burleigh, Middle Towship. Kathy Tweed, a representative from South
Jersey Quilts of Valor, was there to present the vets with Quilts
of Valor made especially for them by east coast members of the
quilters group. Kasmark and Sherman both served abort ships in the
South Pacific during the occupation of Okinawa. (Dale Gerhard /
Press of Atlantic City)

Dale Gerhard / Staff Photographer

Robson brought items from Sherman’s World War II collection,
including Japanese currency, photos and communications with his
wife back in the States.

Dale Gerhard / Staff Photographer

World War II Navy veteran Joe Kasmark, 92, of North Wildwood, is
given a photo of Briella Heitzmann, 10, and himself as a keepsake
from meeting her great-grandfather John Sherman.

Dale Gerhard / Staff Photographer

WWII navy veteran Joe Kasmark 92, of North Wildwood, is given a
photo of Briella Heitzmann 10 and himself as a keepsake from
meeting her great-grandfather John Sherman. Kasmark and Sherman met
for the first time,Tuesday Dec. 5, 2017, during a meeting at
Glick's Cafe in Burleigh, Middle Towship. Kathy Tweed, a
representative from South Jersey Quilts of Valor, was there to
present the vets with Quilts of Valor made especially for them by
east coast members of the quilters group. Kasmark and Sherman both
served abort ships in the South Pacific during the occupation of
Okinawa. (Dale Gerhard / Press of Atlantic City)

Dale Gerhard / Staff Photographer

WWII navy veterans Joe Kasmark 92, of North Wildwood, (left) and
John Sherman, 89, of Cape May Court House, met for the first
time,Tuesday Dec. 5, 2017, during a meeting at Glick's Cafe in
Burleigh, Middle Towship. Kathy Tweed, a representative from South
Jersey Quilts of Valor, was there to present the vets with Quilts
of Valor made especially for them by east coast members of the
quilters group. Kasmark and Sherman both served abort ships in the
South Pacific during the occupation of Okinawa. (Dale Gerhard /
Press of Atlantic City)

Dale Gerhard / Staff Photographer

Debbie Robson of Cape May Court House, drapes Joe Kasmark of
North Wildwood, with a Quilt of Valor for his service during WWII.
WWII navy veterans Joe Kasmark 92, of North Wildwood, and John
Sherman, 89, of Cape May Court House, met for the first
time,Tuesday Dec. 5, 2017, during a meeting at Glick's Cafe in
Burleigh, Middle Towship. Kathy Tweed, a representative from South
Jersey Quilts of Valor, was there to present the vets with Quilts
of Valor made especially for them by east coast members of the
quilters group. Kasmark and Sherman both served abort ships in the
South Pacific during the occupation of Okinawa. (Dale Gerhard /
Press of Atlantic City)

Dale Gerhard / Staff Photographer

WWII navy veterans Joe Kasmark 92, of North Wildwood, and John
Sherman, 89, of Cape May Court House, met for the first
time,Tuesday Dec. 5, 2017, during a meeting at Glick's Cafe in
Burleigh, Middle Towship. Kathy Tweed, a representative from South
Jersey Quilts of Valor, was there to present the vets with Quilts
of Valor made especially for them by east coast members of the
quilters group. Kasmark and Sherman both served abort ships in the
South Pacific during the occupation of Okinawa. Sherman's
daughter Debbie Robson of Cape May Court House, bought items from
her dad's WWII collection including Japanese currency, photos
and communications with his wife back in the states. (Dale Gerhard
/ Press of Atlantic City)

Dale Gerhard / Staff Photographer

WWII navy veterans Joe Kasmark 92, of North Wildwood, (left) and
John Sherman, 89, of Cape May Court House, met for the first
time,Tuesday Dec. 5, 2017, during a meeting at Glick's Cafe in
Burleigh, Middle Towship. Kathy Tweed, a representative from South
Jersey Quilts of Valor, was there to present the vets with Quilts
of Valor made especially for them by east coast members of the
quilters group. Kasmark and Sherman both served abort ships in the
South Pacific during the occupation of Okinawa. (Dale Gerhard /
Press of Atlantic City)

Dale Gerhard / Staff Photographer

Kathy Tweed, left, a representative from South Jersey Quilts of
Valor, presents World War II veteran John Sherman, 89, of Cape May
Court House, with his quilt Tuesday at Glick’s Cafe in Burleigh,
Middle Township. With Sherman is his daughter Debbie Robson, of
Cape May Court House.

MIDDLE TOWNSHIP — Joe Kasmark and John Sherman were just teenagers when Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941 and killed more than 2,300 Americans.

A few years later, the two men, who now live in Cape May County, would both be aboard U.S. Navy ships aiding in the fight in the Pacific during World War II.

This week, Sherman and Kasmark met for the first time. They were brought together by Sherman’s daughter, Debbie Robson, who stumbled upon Kasmark with her granddaughter at the Acme in North Wildwood.

Dobson nominated Kasmark and her father to receive quilts from the Quilts of Valor Foundation, a group that makes quilts to comfort combat veterans.

ATLANTIC CITY — Local World War II veteran Jim Thomas can still vividly remember going to a Navy recruiting center in Philadelphia with his brother and father in 1940 when the country was on the brink of war.

Sherman and Kasmark received their quilts Tuesday morning over breakfast at Glick’s Corner Cafe in Middle Township. The two WWII veterans talked about their experiences in battle, movies they watched on the ships and the quality of the mess hall food.

Kasmark, 92, of North Wildwood, remembers hearing news of the Pearl Harbor attack Sunday morning, Dec. 7, 1941. He was a 16-year-old high school student living in Philadelphia.

“As a teenage kid, I didn’t know much about war,” he said. “I didn’t realize how serious things” were getting.

Sherman was a few years younger than Kasmark and living in Maryland when he heard the news.

“I had just went out to get the paper, and I came back,” said Sherman, 89, of Cape May Court House. “(My mother) just told me the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.”

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP — Seven local veterans sat down with students from Absegami High School on Monday to give a first-hand history lesson as part of the school’s Veterans Day observations.

Kasmark was drafted in 1943 right after graduating high school. He asked the draft board if he could join the Navy.

“I just didn’t like the thought of them shooting at me personally,” he said.

Sherman tried enlisting when he was 16 but was told to come back when he turned 17. He said he was eager to serve his country and get revenge on the Japanese.

He did come back when he was 17, and the Navy assigned him to the USS Niobrara in 1945.

“We refueled ships striking in Japan — aircraft carriers, battlewagons, cruisers, all those big ships,” Sherman said, adding the ship was a “floating time bomb” because of the highly flammable fuel on board.

Kasmark, meanwhile, was sent to electrician school for 16 weeks before being put on the USS Connolly, a destroyer escort. The ship sailed into the Pacific and took part in the Battle of Iwo Jima as one of its first missions, he said.

MIDDLE TOWNSHIP — For the nearly 8,000 veterans in Cape May County, Saturday was a day to honor those who served the country — both in the past and who are serving.

Near the end of the war, the Connolly was operating out of Okinawa and conducting anti-aircraft operations, Kasmark said. They were the first line of defense against Japanese kamikaze planes.

On April 13, 1945 — a Friday the Thirteenth, Kasmark was quick to add — a kamikaze pilot flew directly toward his ship.

“He dove in on us, and our gunners got him before he got to us,” Kasmark said.

The war ended Aug. 15, 1945, when the Japanese surrendered. Sherman and others aboard the Niobrara were watching a movie called “Something for the Boys” when they heard whistles and horns coming from nearby ships.

“So we run out on the deck and there’s an officer out there,” he said. “He was a little guy from Georgia. He said, ‘My word, Sherman, the war is over.’”

After returning to the United States, Kasmark became a firefighter in Philadelphia while Sherman worked on electrical power lines. Both men said their experience in the war impacted the rest of their lives.

“When you’re through the war, you take things a little more seriously as a young guy,” Kasmark said.

“At that time (when I came back), it never really dawned on me, but the older you get, the more it comes back to you,” Sherman said.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii took place on December 7, 1941. Just before 8am, Japanese fighter planes dropped bom…

Atlantic_city

Atlantic City native recalls brother's time at Pearl Harbor

jderosier-pressofac
/ JOHN DeROSIER
Staff Writer

12.07.17

Edward Lea / Staff Photographer

Jim Thomas, a WWII vet who has lived in Atlantic City his whole
life Tuesday Dec 5, 2017. His brother, Robert, was in Pearl Harbor
at the time of the attack. His brother is now dead, (The Press of
Atlantic City / Edward Lea Staff Photographer)

jim thomas / provided

Jim Thomas, left, and his brother Robert both served in the Navy
during World War II, following in the footsteps of their father,
Adam. ‘No one ever walked this planet who loved the Navy more than
my dad,’ said Jim Thomas, a lifelong Atlantic City resident.

Edward Lea / Staff Photographer

Jim Thomas, a WWII vet who has lived in Atlantic City his whole
life Tuesday Dec 5, 2017. His brother, Robert, was in Pearl Harbor
at the time of the attack. His brother is now dead, (The Press of
Atlantic City / Edward Lea Staff Photographer)

Edward Lea / Staff Photographer

Jim Thomas, a WWII vet who has lived in Atlantic City his whole
life Tuesday Dec 5, 2017. His brother, Robert, was in Pearl Harbor
at the time of the attack. His brother is now dead, (The Press of
Atlantic City / Edward Lea Staff Photographer)

Edward Lea / Staff Photographer

Jim Thomas, a WWII vet who has lived in Atlantic City his whole
life Tuesday Dec 5, 2017. His brother, Robert, was in Pearl Harbor
at the time of the attack. His brother is now dead. Pictured here
is the whole Thomas family. (The Press of Atlantic City / Edward
Lea Staff Photographer)

Edward Lea / Staff Photographer

Jim Thomas, a WWII vet who has lived in Atlantic City his whole
life Tuesday Dec 5, 2017. His brother, Robert, was in Pearl Harbor
at the time of the attack. His brother is now dead, (The Press of
Atlantic City / Edward Lea Staff Photographer)

Edward Lea / Staff Photographer

Jim Thomas is a World War II veteran who has lived in Atlantic
City his whole life. He and his brother Robert, who served during
the Pearl Harbor attack, both owned car dealerships in the
city.

ATLANTIC CITY — Local World War II veteran Jim Thomas can still vividly remember going to a Navy recruiting center in Philadelphia with his brother and father in 1940 when the country was on the brink of war.

Thomas’ father, Adam, was a World War I veteran who served in the Navy for nearly 30 years starting in 1912. There was no doubt his sons would follow in his footsteps.

“No one ever walked this planet who loved the Navy more than my dad,” said Thomas, who has lived in Atlantic City his entire life. “It became his family, and he stayed in until he retired.”

The USS Jacob Jones moved at a steady 15 knots off the Cape May coast Feb. 28, 1942. Then came a wave of torpedoes from a Nazi submarine.

So when Adam Thomas and two of his sons — Robert, who had just turned 18, and Jim, who was six years younger — walked into the recruiting center to talk about Robert signing up, the recruiter ignored the sons and only asked their father some questions.

“(He) just looked at my dad and said, ‘Well, what do you think, Mr. Thomas? Should we sign him up for four years or six years?’” Thomas said. “And my dad immediately said six years without hesitation.”

Just over a year later, Robert Thomas, called “Barney” by his family and friends, was in the water at Pearl Harbor picking up survivors after Japanese forces bombed the naval base Dec. 7, 1941, and thrust the United States into World War II.

Robert Thomas spent his time at Pearl Harbor and the entire war stationed on the USS Pennsylvania. Leading up to the attack on the Hawaiian naval base, the Japanese had identified the Pennsylvania as one of its primary targets because it was one of the flagship battleships of the fleet and the sister ship of the USS Arizona.

Just days before, however, the Pennsylvania was moved to a dry dock for repairs and was spared from being destroyed. The battleship that took the place of the Pennsylvania in the harbor, the USS Helena, was bombed and heavily damaged that day.

“(My brother) spent the entire war on the USS Pennsylvania, which I think was one of the luckiest ships out there,” Jim Thomas said.

The Pennsylvania was involved in some of the heaviest fighting in the Pacific Theater, which included the bombardment of Guam, the Philippines, Saipan and Kwajalein Island.

ATLANTIC CITY — Vicky Gold Levi still remembers selling war bonds on the city’s Boardwalk as a 5-year-old girl.

Just days before Japan surrendered, the Pennsylvania was torpedoed by a submarine that opened a 30-foot hole in the stern. Emergency repairs were done, but the ship had to return to the United States traveling three knots an hour.

When he returned home to Atlantic City, Robert Thomas opened Thomas Motors on Albany Avenue. He died in 1977.

Jim Thomas, 89, served in the Navy during WWII in 1944 and 1945 and opened Jim Thomas Motors at Annapolis and Ventnor avenues. He still lives in Atlantic City with his wife, Dolores.

ATLANTIC CITY — City officials and veterans will gather Tuesday at O’Donnell Park to commemorate Memorial Day for the last time before the park is taken over by Stockton University as part of the Gateway Project.

“I like to think that when my brother made his last cruise to heaven, there was another sailor there with seven hash marks that said, ‘Come aboard, son, you brought honor to your family and your country,’” Jim Thomas said.